Drivers and motor vehicles are occasionally involved in traffic collisions. Resolution of disputes of traffic collisions conventionally depend on participants exchanging information (e.g., identification and insurance information), and participants and eyewitnesses reporting their respective versions of the collisions. However, collision information is sometimes not accurately reported, for example, participants may provide conflicting facts of a collision including the speed each vehicle was traveling or sequence of events in the collision. A participant may also misrepresent the facts of the collision, or leave the scene of the collision without exchanging any information. Consequently, vital information regarding the collision may be lost to law enforcement investigators or to a participant's insurance company.
One such approach to overcome the loss of vital information regarding traffic collisions involves manufacturers voluntarily installing event data recorders (EDRs) as standard equipment in vehicles. The information and data collected from the EDRs may be used to aid law enforcement investigators and insurance companies in identifying the causes or severity of impacts, and to improve insurance processing efficiencies, motor vehicle safety systems, and standards. However, the EDRs typically do not exchange the information and data collected with other participants and/or vehicles involved in the traffic collision, and therefore are limited in their usefulness in incidents in which one or more of the participants leave the scene of the collision without exchanging information, such as in hit and run incidents, or incidents whereby an unoccupied vehicle is impacted with no witnesses.
Wireless communication devices have been proposed that exchange the information and data collected upon detection of an impact. However, these wireless communication devices have proven inadequate for identifying origins and participants of the impact, and therefore, exchanging the information and data collected in a reliable and secure manner. Other wireless communication devices have been proposed that regularly transmit vehicle identification and status information. However, the regular transmission of vehicle information is often objectionable due to privacy concerns of the driver. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.